Players annoyed at CFL’s attempt to disrupt union

Strike before televised pre-season games would hurt league, owners

Linebacker J.C. Sherritt gets the worst of a collision with fullback Smith Wright during the opening day of the Edmonton Eskimos training camp at the Commonwealth Stadium fieldhouse on Sunday.

Photograph by: John Lucas
, Edmonton Journal

EDMONTON - Canadian Football League players reported to training camp this weekend despite not reaching a deal on a new collective bargaining agreement.

They showed up as a gesture of “good faith,” but also because Alberta’s labour laws won’t allow them to strike until June 10.

The players have little bargaining power until that time. They don’t get paid to play pre-season games. The owners receive gate revenue and TV revenue during the pre-season, and six of the nine pre-season games are televised. To put pressure on the owners, the players could go through 10 days of training camp and then vote to strike.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Toronto Argonauts play next Monday on TSN. Will the league want the public relations nightmare of having the first game televised and then watching the players walk away from training camp?

The CFL’s labour strife isn’t about millions of dollars; it is more about mortgage payments, Visa payments and getting some long-term security from playing a violent, aggressive game.

I don’t believe there is enough money to risk a lockout/strike and that’s why I believe the two sides will reach an agreement without missing any regular-season games. However, the one mistake the CFL has made during negotiations was assuming the players weren’t informed.

The players received weekly, and sometimes daily, email updates from their player representatives on the latest offer, but over the past few weeks, the CFL would send a similar email to the players a few hours later. Numerous players told me they became annoyed when they opened the second email, because it suggested the CFLPA wasn’t doing its job.

Instead of wasting time trying to break the union, the CFL would be better served sitting down with the Players’ Association and negotiating.

The Eskimos are scheduled to host the B.C. Lions on June 13 on TSN. There are three games on June 14. I won’t be surprised to see the players walk if there isn’t a CBA in place before June 13. It’s their only bargaining chip.

I hope both sides realize they have more to lose than to gain and sit down for some serious negotiations before then.

Jones’ debut overshadowed

The Edmonton Eskimos are coming off a horrendous 4-14 season that cost Kavis Reed and his coaching staff their jobs. Usually, when a new coach comes to town, there is a lot of hype, but the CBA uncertainty has somewhat overshadowed Chris Jones’s head coaching debut.

The Eskimos can’t afford to miss any pre-season games or training camp practices.

“I know very few of these players first-hand. I need to get them here and evaluate them and find out what they can and can’t do,” said Jones.

The players will have to learn new offensive and defensive schemes. The Eskimos will be much more aggressive on both sides of the ball.

Jones will bring his successful blitz-happy defence from the Toronto Argonauts while rookie offensive co-ordinator Steve McAdoo will utilize the skilled players.

Last year, Doug Sams ran one of the worst offensive packages I’ve ever seen. The Eskimos ignored screen passes or short, underneath routes, which put the onus on quarterback Mike Reilly to throw the downfield all day. It also forced the offensive line to block for four or more seconds, with disasterous results. Reilly put up good numbers, but he took a beating in the process.

McAdoo vowed the Eskimos will run the ball and the former offensive lineman will unveil a playbook that ensures his quarterback isn’t getting hit every second snap.

The offensive line will have two or three new starters.

If the players strike, it will hamper the Eskimos’ chances of being competitive out of the gate. This team will need time to adjust to its new teammates, coaches and systems.

Battles to watch

For me, the most intriguing battle will be at middle linebacker. Both J.C. Sherritt and Rennie Curran played there last year, but only one player can man the middle.

“One of them will be the (middle) and one will be the (weakside) linebacker. I think after a few practices, I will be able to see where they will fit best,” said Jones.

In Jones’s system, the weakside linebacker needs to be more versatile. He’ll need to be able to play like a safety, cover a receiver man-to-man, and also cover running backs swinging out of the backfield.

Even though Sherritt was the CFL’s defensive player of the year in 2012 while playing middle linebacker, he might be better suited to play the weakside in Jones’s system.

Curran is larger and can step up in the middle gaps and deliver a bigger blow while Sheritt is a better cover guy and has good hands to haul in interceptions.

You can listen to Gregor weekdays from 2-6 p.m. on TSN 1260 and read him at oilersnation.com.

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